The northbound Gilbert's Ferry Bridge over the Coosa River in Etowah County, a span locals have long called the little bridge, is finally getting torn down and rebuilt after 87 years of service. The Alabama Department of Transportation has awarded a $22,065,595 contract to Scott Bridge Company, an Opelika-based firm, to replace the aging crossing that sits between Southside and Rainbow City.
Of the four companies that submitted bids, Scott Bridge Company came in with the lowest offer, according to ALDOT, which opened bids for the project on September 25. Gov. Kay Ivey signed off on the contract on November 3, as reported by ABC 3340, locking in the lowest of the four bids submitted for the job.
The current bridge, built in 1939, originally carried all traffic through the corridor, ALDOT's report notes. Its replacement won't just be modern — it'll be dramatically bigger. The new structure is designed to stretch 910 feet long and 36 feet wide, with two 12-foot travel lanes and 6-foot shoulders on both sides, rising about 30 feet above the Coosa River. That's a significant jump from the current bridge, which measures just 20 feet wide, 868 feet long, and stands only about 10 feet above the water, per the same ALDOT account.
Governor Points to Decades of Growing Traffic
Gov. Ivey framed the upgrade as overdue relief for drivers who've watched the crossing strain under growing demand. According to a statement carried by EIN Presswire, Ivey said, “For almost 90 years, the Gilbert's Ferry Bridge has carried increasing traffic volume across the Coosa River.” She added that congestion remains a problem for northbound traffic on the older bridge even after a larger southbound bridge was added, and called the new northbound span good news for travelers who cross the river on SR-77.
Just how many of those travelers use the crossing depends on who's counting. ALDOT puts the figure at 25,000 travelers who cross the Coosa River on SR-77 each day, while WEIS Radio reports that the two bridges together carry approximately 25,000 vehicles each day — a slightly different way of framing the same busy corridor.
Construction Timeline and Added Safety Upgrades
ALDOT anticipates construction will begin in early 2027 and wrap up by the end of 2029, with Scott Bridge Company set to remove the 87-year-old northbound span and build a modern two-lane replacement in its place, according to WRBL. The project also calls for a new traffic signal and turn lanes on SR-77 at Lakeshore Drive and Whorton Bend Road, per ALDOT's announcement.
Motorists should brace for shifting traffic patterns once work gets underway, ABC 3340 reports. Funding for the project draws on both state and federal sources, including a $3 million appropriation secured by U.S. Sens. Tommy Tuberville and Katie Britt and Congressman Mike Rogers, ALDOT says.
A Debate Over the Old Bridge's Future
The push to replace rather than simply retire the northbound span followed years of public discussion. Back in 2024, ALDOT floated two paths forward: remove and replace the existing northbound bridge outright, or take it out of service while building an entirely new bridge beside it, as ABC 3340 reported at the time. Feelings on preserving the old structure were split, with a 2024 account from the Gadsden Messenger describing residents at a Southside Community Center meeting as nearly evenly divided over whether the bridge should be saved. Southside Mayor Dana Snyder noted that keeping the span as a pedestrian bridge would require about $1 million in repairs, a cost that loomed over the debate as officials weighed what to do with the decades-old crossing.
